"The Girl of Your Dreams..." Part I...
reg...@aol.com
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Disclaimer: All BTVS characters remain the property of Joss Whedon,
Mutant Enemy, and all other owner/creators of the Buffy the Vampire
Slayer series...
Summary: Another unholy alliance of Amy and Warren Mears creates
another doorway for Buffy’s demon Anne to escape Hell…Unfortunately…
They miscalculated slightly…
“*@$H$!ing, stinkin’ human?!!”
But our Annie will find her way…
Part I…
Six months after the Great Battle of LA with the Senior Partners…
New Sunnydale, California…The old decrepit Crestwood edge of old
Sunnydale, filled out with some additional county land…
Not quite a roaring success as a new planned community, despite the
adjoining famed new tourist attraction of the Sunnydale Crater…With
the Hellmouth permanently sealed even most of the occult world has
lost interest in the place despite the trace energy left from the old
Mouth…
Making the perfect locale for a supervillain of somewhat limited
superabilities though excellent technical skills to hang out…
A swarthy little man sat in a booth of the only coffee shop in town…A
local, even Starbucks having passed on this one…His hair greasy and
thick…Though a rather obvious wig…And the swarthiness, only too
clearly the effect of heavy make-up…Though as the just-past middle-
aged owner quietly sniggered to a regular customer at the front bar…In
this place, so long as he’s not the type likely to be hard to handle,
who gives…?
“You never know…” the regular smiled at the balding, perspiring owner…
“Surprises can come out of these oddball types…Remember the old
place…?”
“God, kid…” sigh… “Don’t remind me…You never knew when some freak
might pop out…Especially that girl and her collection of wierdos…”
“Pretty hot collection at the end…” the regular smiled… “You were
there when those girls fought the First after all, Bringer…”
The owner frowned… “Kid…I thought you had the brains to keep that
quiet…Besides, I’m…Mostly…Human again…And I was a victim like the
others…”
“Hmmn…A little bird…A Tule demon, really, in little bird form…They
make great spies, by the way…Tole me some of you were voluntary…And
you might be one of the volunteers…The Slayer and her people might be
interested in that…Maybe their Council at least…”
“The Slayer might like to know the witch who corrupted her best friend
is still around, girlie…” the owner glared… “I thought you were all
right, Amy…”
“Just messin’ with your bald plate, Fred…” she grinned… Stretching on
her stool… “Now don’t be like that…” another grin at his hard stare…
“I know you have some protection and I’m just teasin’…Besides…You
shouldn’t cover for a guy like that…” she indicated the man seated,
quietly eating his sandwich with rather ravenous appetite… “…Or try to
deceive…Me…” she frowned…
“Or you may find your stuff isn’t quite up to me…” hard stare,
followed by warm smile… “But, we’re ole pals, Fred…After all you gave
me my chance to hook up with the First…It was only my lack of faith
that kept me from joinin’ in for that fiasco…”
Fred winced…But kept a guarded stance, eyeing her…
Not really sure if his stuff could hold her off if put to the test…
“Not to worry…I know you were sincere in the offer…” she put up a
hand… “And I almost regret, win or lose, that I didn’t sign on…”
“Looks like you made the right call…” he shrugged… “We lost…”
“Sometimes win or lose doesn’t matter…” she noted with smile…
“Sometimes it’s just whether you anty up and kick in or no that’s what
counts…And, to be sure, I didn’t…Introduce me to your friend, Fred…”
she eyed him…
“No friend of mine…He just likes to eat here…I don’t even…”
“You’re overdoing it, Fred…” she serenely patted his hand… “Next time
just say he’s nobody you know…”
Fred reddened… “Look…He doesn’t like to be bothered…And he’s…”
“Dangerous?...” warm smile… “I like ‘dangerous’…You oughta know that
from the First’s reports on me, Fred…” Amy grinned…
“Fine…I’ll ask him… But I mean as in with the machinery, not the other
world stuff…And I don’t need my place shot up…”
“Oooh, a gangster…A drug lord…?” she chuckled, keeping voice as low as
Fred’s but with an edge of mockery… “He don’t look like much if either…
But keep what’s left of your hair on, Fred…If it is your hair and you
didn’t steal a body to hide in…I’ll intro myself…” she rose off her
stool and moved toward the man in the booth who caught sight of her
and eyed her as she approached…
“Warren?...Sorry if I’m late…” she said, glancing back at Fred who
gave a grimace…
“Yeah, we had an appointment, sorry Fred…”she chuckled, moving to the
booth where Warren in his makeup continued to eye her coolly…
“Scoot over…I prefer to sit next to you…” Amy urged…
***
LA, same time…
Offices of Angel, Burkle-Wyndham-Price, Gunn, and Walthrop…
The somewhat slimmed-down yet (barely) profitable successor to Wolfram-
Hart, Inc…Risen like a phoenix from the ashes of the mysteriously
devastated global conglomerate…A corporation destroyed after decades
of astounding success built on those of predeaceassor firms in a space
of a week by a combination of overwhelming if amazingly localized
natural disasters, corruption allegations, and bizarre disappearances
of senior staff…Only US CEO Liam Angel able to keep his name and rep
intact in the aftermath…
Though a few questions raised regarding his own and his staff’s
credentials as lawyers and even as US citizens in several cases had
been quietly shelved by the US government, acting, it was rumored,
very faintly, at the urging of its own intelligence and mysterious
global agencies…
Mr. Angel in fact occupied with yet another intrepid reporter seeking
to delve to the bottom of the mysterious events…Localized earthquakes
and volcanic activity…Strange reports of hordes of unknown creatures
appearing and as strangely, vanishing before daybreak…And of hordes of
lovely young women likewise appearing and disappearing…And the
disappearance of so many leading executives and politicians connected
with Wolfram-Hart world-wide…As if someone had been cleaning house on
a global scale…A St. Valentine’s day massacre, the young woman noted
to Angel, on a epic, even Hitlerian scale…
“Well?...” Dr. Winifred Illyria Burkle-Wyndham-Price, head of the
firm’s scientific department eyed her junior partner, William S.
Walthrop, who knelt at the office door, hand to a cup lain against the
said door …Ear to said hand…Asked…
“She’s comparing him to Hitler, now…” Will noted… “A bit much…”
“Yeah…” Illyria, in her favorite red Winifred suit nodded, frowning…
“Hitler killed 50 million if Fred remembers right…A paltry number but
hardly to be compared to Angel’s pitiful record…”
Ummn…She stared at Will’s look… “Sorry…It’s terrible…” she nodded…
Winifred apologetic look…
“Where he only killed demons to protect…Us…” she continued, nervously…
“It’s all right, Lyri…” Will, kindly… “And it is terrible…Though she
isn’t directly sayin’ he did it…Just hintin’…”
“Maybe we could capture her and do a mind probe?...” she suggested…
“Find out if she really knows anything?...”
Lyri…
“No, right…That would be wrong…”
“If she’s not a snoop…Though, bein’ unquestionably human…We gotta take
her word for it…”
“We have a truth serum that doesn’t…”
“Lord, no…” Charles Gunn, her senior partner…Decked out in formal
“power” suit had entered the outer office were Will and Illyria
awaited the outcome of Angel’s latest attempt to deflect an
investigator… “We don’t truth serum, Lyri…And no mind control or
thrall, if either of you were considering it…”
“It wouldn’t hurt her…It’s a risk-free, non-harmful formulation…”
Illyria insisted…
“No…” Gunn shook his head… “And get rid of it from the company stocks…
In a safe, environmentally-friendly way…”
“Meanin’ don’t flush it…” Will grinned, back to listening now… “Unless
you want the entire population of LA telling the truth for several
days…God…The unimaginable horror…Even Spike couldn’t conceive of it…”
“You guys…” Illyria sighed… “But Fred says you’re right…I’m sorry…”
she looked downcast…
“You’re just trying to help, we know, Illyria…” Gunn stepped forward,
patting her arm… “We’ve all made our share of mistakes…”
“Exceptin’ us innocent victims, of course…” Will grinned… “We are as
pure as the driven…” he ducked as both Gunn and Burkle-Wyndham-Price
tossed pens at him…
“Next time those will be pencils, you…” Illyria mock-frowned…She
pausing as he put up his free hand …Wait a bit…Developments…
He had put a look of intense concentration on… “They’re about…”
“Well, good day, Ms…” Angel had opened the door for his guest, Will
failing with glass into the room…Illyria and Gunn quickly taking
advantage of the confusion to beat a quick retreat…
“…Anderson…Spike!!...What the hell?!!...”
“Just checking to see if you were available…” Will quickly attempted a
plausible recover, failing miserably…
Though…He caught the smile from Ms. Anderson, a rather attractive
young brunette of short…er, exactly proper…stature…At him as he rose…
“…Harmony was off to lunch…” he continued his feeble explanation…
“And you were what…Taking my door off its hinges?...” Angel asked…
It the way you back us up at all times, along with your known penchant
for being utterly open with all employees at all times that endears
you so to us, boss…Will frowned at Angel…
“Really sorry, miss…” Will concluded, a bit desperately… “No offense
intended…”
“None taken…” Ms. Anderson smiled warmly… “You’re William Soames
Walthrop, right?...”
“Guilty as charged…Though old pals call me…”
“Don’t you have something important to do, Spike?...” Angel frowned…
“As in, right now?...”
“My schedule is clear all afternoon…” Will smiled… “It’s rare but
today I just happened to manage to catch up on just about everything
in my all-too-full work basket…”
Cut to shot of office of junior partner WSW, out basket full of tossed
mostly blank, some scribbled on paper wads in airplane form…
“Great, then you can help Illyria with our new project…In the lab…”
Angel eyed him… “I know she needs you…Now…”
“Oh, but I wanted to speak to Mr. Walthrop as well…” Ms. Anderson
insisted…A slightly pleading tone… “And if he’s available…”
“Utterly…Completely…” Will nodded… “I’d say this afternoon was the
perfect time…One never knows when my busy schedule will be overloaded
once again…”
Cut to shot of junior partner Walthrop snoring in office…
“Great…” Ms. Anderson beamed…
“Great is hardly the word…” Will beamed…
“Mr. Walthrop…Could I have a word with you?...In my office…” Angel,
coldly…
“We’re in your office, mate…” Will smiled pleasantly…
“Inside my inner office, Mr. Walthrop?...” Angel…Quietly… “Please…”
“A boss so versed in the magic word…Who could refuse him anything, eh,
Ms. Anderson…?” Will grinned to the woman…Who grinned back…
He followed Angel into his inner sanctum… Picking up a picture from
the huge desk…Talk about ego gratification, mate…As Angel closed the
door to the outer office with a friendly smile… “Just a moment, Ms.
Anderson…”
“Nice one of Nina, Liam…”
“Spike…” Angel hissed… “What the hell are you thinking?...Or rather,
doing…Since I know it’s pointless to ask if you think about anything…”
“Just ready to put my incredible social skills at the service of the
greater good, Liam…My duty and my pleas…”
“You are not going to take that reporter anywhere, Spike…In case you
didn’t notice while you were listening at my door…She’s damned good…”
“And what could she possibly get out of me?...” Will frowned… “Even if
I weren’t possessed of an unshakable will and skillfully adept mind…”
“ ‘Well, Miss’…” Angel did a reasonable mimic of Spike’s voice… “ ‘I
didn’t mean to say I was born in 1857 and only started mass killing in
1881 after Angelus trained me…’”
“That was a regrettable slip…Probably Freudian guilt as I contemplated
Spike’s crimes…I’ve dealt…”
“Spike, I nearly had her satisfied and…”
“What…?” Angel stared…
“Well, thought you were a proper family man, Liam…”
“Shut up, you idiot!!...”
Reporteray on the outsideskray…Will hissed…Waving for lowered voice…
“You know I mean I had her convinced there was nothing more to the
story…”
“Didn’t sound or look, just now, that way to me…” he put up a hand at
Angel’s furious stare… “I’m just sayin’…In all seriousness…I don’t
think she was convinced…She’s still looking for something on us…”
“And letting you spill everything to her will solve all problems, eh…
Mr. Stark?...”
“I don’t mind sayin’ I think sometimes Tony had the right idea,
puttin’ it all out there…What good does it do to cover up like this…?”
“It helps to keep a lot of nice unsuperpeople safe…Fred’s family for
instance…Charlie’s folks…And my kid…Not to mention a certain girl we
know…”
“Not that I’m not over that…” Angel hastily added…
“As am I…” Will, grandly, but with equal haste…
“Fine…” he continued… “But Liam, there’s no point in not letting me
speak to her…She’ll just be more suspicious, you running everything
through you…”
“And you sleeping with her will solve all problems?...”
“Sir…” William straightened… “May I remind you I am a recovered souled
gentleman…”
“Is that the suit talking?...” Angel glared…
“…And I only do a bird if she’s up and ready…” Will concluded… “Come
on, Angel…I’ll just give her my patented song-and-dance, play the
executive playboy type…She’ll put on some kind of feminist huff, slap
me silly and stalk out, convinced we’re nothing but the usual
corporate assholes…Look, she’s been round three times and you haven’t
managed to drive her off…Give me a shot before you have to consider
besmurchin’ your pristine record of no-thralling…”
Hmmn…Angel frowning, but pondering…He has a point…
And he is the corporate sexist jackass junior exec type…
“All right…But mind you don’t overdo it and get us into a sexual
harassment suit…Just convince her you’re a shallow idiot with one
thing on your mind…Which being 99% true, should be easy…And that we’re
just another bunch of jerk lawyers out to make a buck…”
“…And never killing anyone without Mob assistance…With everyone we
have hit deservin’ to be hit…” Will nodded…
“Go…Just go…And remember not to rely too much on Fred’s…” Angel
paused…
“She loves it when we forget, you know…” Will noted quietly…Solemnly…
“It’s not betraying Winnie, Liam…”
“Right…” Angel sighed… “Anyway…Don’t rely too much on that daylight
protection spell, ok?...W-H never gave something like that away
without a catch or a sinister fail-safe…And I’m sure I was starting to
smoke a bit the other day at that state conference…”
“I’ll wear extra sunscreen…Should we venture out at all…” Will smiled…
“Don’t sweat it, O’Angel…The Brit partner has the situation well in
phlegmatic hand…”
Lord…Angel sighed as he went out…Catching just the start of Will’s
pleasant chat with Ms. Anderson before the door closed again…
I’ll just claim Angelus took over for a micro-second when Charlie and
Lyri come after me…
***
Now…William thought…It’s not that I didn’t expect this to end up at my
digs or hers…He glanced about his living room where Ms. Anderson sat
rather over-comfortably on his rather expensive white sofa…Smiling at
him as she wiggled her now shoeless feet…
Nor that I didn’t expect to be makin’ full use of my rather nice
amenities…He inclined ear to listen to the soft, mellow jazz playing
through his excellent home theatre system…And eyed the darkened lights
and the silver tray on which lay a bottle of fine old bourbon and two
glasses…
Just didn’t expect it to end with her not stalkin’ out…But rather
seeming, if anything, inclined to push things along…
Of course in Spikean times…Pretty much the norm, adding the hideous
suffering and death at the end…But as restored soul William…One woman
(at least in spirit) Unman William…Rather rare…
In fact, rather non-existent…
Interesting…If a bit worrisome…The past three visits had shown Ms.
Anderson to be a very capable reporter…He carefully reflected on the
last two hours…
Had he given anything away?...
Nah, not a thing…After all they’d spent the first hour touring the
office with a nervous Illyria and Charlie at their tail, summoned
hastily by Angel’s call…Until she’d suggested it might be useful for
the mysterious Mr. Walthrop…A source of such fascination to her
readers since his emergence on both the corporate and social scenes…To
show his home off and let the public see how this incredibly fast-
moving, dynamic young exec lived…
And she’d been so interested in Will Jr…Seemed rather startled by him
in fact…Or at least by the fact that the lad stayed strictly in the
hands of his dynamic young exec/social whirl of a dad…The boy’s
existence being a biographical fact in the public record…And not in
the care of nanny/governess in some fancy version of a one-kid
orphanage…
“It’s just so unusual for a man like you to not only raise a child
alone…In your own home…But to have adopted him…” Ms. Anderson had
noted…
“He was the offspring of dear friends now deceased…” Will had replied…
“But I can’t go into that…A bit too much to dwell on…Hopin’ you
understand…”
No…Couldn’t be anything dangerous there…He’d given nothing away…
Utter phlegmatic…Truly Brit…
Though…She was movin’ a bit fast for a new acquaintance…
Though on the other hand…His last date of sorts having been a nervous
dinner with Illyria urged by their “friends”…
At which conclusion both had eagerly agreed previous claimants still
retained too much of a foothood for the moment for things to progress
just now…And before that a brief romp with poor Harmony…Pre-soul
recovery…
Making her angry, bitter Harmony at least for the first few months…He
honestly wasn’t quite sure if a normal date might actually progress so
quickly…
His memories of Spike not providing much in the way of argument, Spike
having been rather quick to get to the point once the lady had
accepted the initial advances…
And as for human William…Sigh…
No help there at all…
Though…At times a stray memory did suggest he’d not been totally
inexperienced even as poor Will the Bloody Awful…
In fact, a rather troubling stray memory or series of such had been
persistently bothering him for some time now…
But…Matters at hand…He eyed the smiling Ms. Anderson who’d so
efficiently papered over his obvious slight awkwardness to make
herself firmly at home…In his home…
Indeed, he’d not even known the lights could dim like that…
“So…William…Sit back down and tell me all about how you got to be the
hottest young lawyer in LA…” Ms. Anderson, cooing a bit at the end…
Well…
Phone rang, mercifully…
“Is that Mr. Angel?...Again?...” she asked…
“Very sorry…Yes, Angel?…Yes…Fine…” he smiled at Ms. Anderson, who
leaned back, smiling…
“In fact excellent…Anything else?...”
“What?...” he gripped the phone…
“When…?”
“All right, I’ll be over shortly…” he hung up…
“Anything wrong?...” Ms. Anderson eyed him…
“An old friend had an accident…I’m afraid we’ll have to resume our
talk another time…I’ve someone coming over to stay with Will…”
“I’m sorry…” she nodded sympathetically… “I hope it’s nothing
serious…?”
Yeah…I wouldn’t want her dead too quick…Warren thought, smiling at
William…
***